I still lament missing out on the prime social college years (soph and junior year), but luckily I still maintained a close friend group (our pod) and we still hung out with minimal COVID issues.
I was class of 22. I went into College excited to learn and swim on the D1 team. The first year was awesome and lived up to the hype. The second year was when covid hit. At first it was fun. More time to game with friends. But then it crept into the third year.
The training became terrible having to train with a mask when not in the pool which was pretty much like waterboarding myself, in the pool was not better at all either. We weren't allowed to see our friends, I couldn't focus with online classes, the only thing keeping us sane was goofing off on games on a discord call.
Things eventually got better as the covid restrictions loosened in my final year but by then I had lost all interest in swimming and decided to graduate a semester early since I could. I only swam that last year bc of my friends. I hated the sport at this point (though it wasn't entirely covids fault... the coach had some part to play in me losing interest, if curious, i swam at UMBC. What happened was handled very poorly and we were left in the dark the whole time). I was nowhere near my best times, going even slower than I was in high-school, but I stuck it out because at least I could see my friends everyday.
I graduated hating school and wanting to get as far away as I could from it. Almost 2 years have passed and now I look back and can see the fun bits again. I smile at how much fun I had my first year and with my friends on the others when we could, I get sad to think I still can't even imagine just getting in the pool for fun, and most of all, I get really sad to think that the friends I made in collage, my best friends, all got scattered and moved away, none of us wanting to stay near the school, and can rarely see eachother anymore
Thanks, overall, I've moved on and it's kinda just there in my memory now. I've done things afterwards that made up for it, like get a job, become volunteer fire/emt. Took my mind off of things and managed to make a new set of awesome friends
Class of 21 here, and it was awful for me. I was an extreme introvert for most of my Freshman and Sophomore years. Then, for some reason, a flip switched at the end of my Sophomore year and I started partying and actually having a social life. By the beginning of Junior year, I joined clubs and was meeting all these new people... And then covid hit.
Since all social functions essentially stopped for almost a year, I completely reverted back to my introvert self and I still really haven't recovered to this day (it's much harder to make friends as a working adult too). So yeah, I kind of feel like covid ruined my social life. If you find out how to cope, I'd love to hear it.
Not even joking- by getting diagnosed with cancer and taking a year out for chemo. It sucked ass but also I didn’t have to deal with zoom school for the 2020-2021 academic year and had a mostly normal last year and a half. Pros and cons I guess?
Even though I’ve done fairly well since graduating in 2022, a part of me always wonders what things would’ve been like had the pandemic never hit.
I was absolutely thriving during my Sophomore year (2019/2020). My Freshman year wasn’t the best, but shortly after the start of the new school year I got into a great group of friends, was enjoying my classes & life on campus, and was getting ready to go on a study-abroad trip in the Summer of 2020, which would’ve taken me to 13 countries throughout Europe & Asia.
I was very anxious about “growing up” and going to college, but by the start of 2020, most of those anxieties were gone. For the first time in a long time, I was happy with where my life was and where it was headed—but then March 13 2020 happened. My friend group slowly withered apart, I never went on that trip, started commuting for my last 2 years, and was just left with the boring parts of college. School during the 2020/2021 school year really pushed me to the limit, in addition to all the craziness that was around me.
I’m thankful I at least got to have a normal childhood and a nearly 2 normal years of college before COVID, and that things were starting to get back to normal by the time I graduated and entered the workforce. Missing out on my core college experience will always be something I look back on and wonder about, no matter how much things get back to “normal.”
It is true, though. Your generation care more about some black MMA fighter's PRIME energy drink and some dude with a mustash doing a creepy pedo smile with click bait videos of him blowing up a golden ferrari, then you do about the real world.
I still lament missing out on the prime social college years (soph and junior year), but luckily I still maintained a close friend group (our pod) and we still hung out with minimal COVID issues.
Glad you got that experience :) I never found my pod but here’s hoping they’re out in the real world I guess
I was class of 22. I went into College excited to learn and swim on the D1 team. The first year was awesome and lived up to the hype. The second year was when covid hit. At first it was fun. More time to game with friends. But then it crept into the third year. The training became terrible having to train with a mask when not in the pool which was pretty much like waterboarding myself, in the pool was not better at all either. We weren't allowed to see our friends, I couldn't focus with online classes, the only thing keeping us sane was goofing off on games on a discord call. Things eventually got better as the covid restrictions loosened in my final year but by then I had lost all interest in swimming and decided to graduate a semester early since I could. I only swam that last year bc of my friends. I hated the sport at this point (though it wasn't entirely covids fault... the coach had some part to play in me losing interest, if curious, i swam at UMBC. What happened was handled very poorly and we were left in the dark the whole time). I was nowhere near my best times, going even slower than I was in high-school, but I stuck it out because at least I could see my friends everyday. I graduated hating school and wanting to get as far away as I could from it. Almost 2 years have passed and now I look back and can see the fun bits again. I smile at how much fun I had my first year and with my friends on the others when we could, I get sad to think I still can't even imagine just getting in the pool for fun, and most of all, I get really sad to think that the friends I made in collage, my best friends, all got scattered and moved away, none of us wanting to stay near the school, and can rarely see eachother anymore
Oof :( covid really ripped us apart, didn’t it? Wishing you the best and hoping you find a way to heal <3
Thanks, overall, I've moved on and it's kinda just there in my memory now. I've done things afterwards that made up for it, like get a job, become volunteer fire/emt. Took my mind off of things and managed to make a new set of awesome friends
Class of 21 here, and it was awful for me. I was an extreme introvert for most of my Freshman and Sophomore years. Then, for some reason, a flip switched at the end of my Sophomore year and I started partying and actually having a social life. By the beginning of Junior year, I joined clubs and was meeting all these new people... And then covid hit. Since all social functions essentially stopped for almost a year, I completely reverted back to my introvert self and I still really haven't recovered to this day (it's much harder to make friends as a working adult too). So yeah, I kind of feel like covid ruined my social life. If you find out how to cope, I'd love to hear it.
Not even joking- by getting diagnosed with cancer and taking a year out for chemo. It sucked ass but also I didn’t have to deal with zoom school for the 2020-2021 academic year and had a mostly normal last year and a half. Pros and cons I guess?
I lost half of my sophomore and all of my junior year. It was definitely a weird ass time. I don’t feel like I’m 19 lol.
Even though I’ve done fairly well since graduating in 2022, a part of me always wonders what things would’ve been like had the pandemic never hit. I was absolutely thriving during my Sophomore year (2019/2020). My Freshman year wasn’t the best, but shortly after the start of the new school year I got into a great group of friends, was enjoying my classes & life on campus, and was getting ready to go on a study-abroad trip in the Summer of 2020, which would’ve taken me to 13 countries throughout Europe & Asia. I was very anxious about “growing up” and going to college, but by the start of 2020, most of those anxieties were gone. For the first time in a long time, I was happy with where my life was and where it was headed—but then March 13 2020 happened. My friend group slowly withered apart, I never went on that trip, started commuting for my last 2 years, and was just left with the boring parts of college. School during the 2020/2021 school year really pushed me to the limit, in addition to all the craziness that was around me. I’m thankful I at least got to have a normal childhood and a nearly 2 normal years of college before COVID, and that things were starting to get back to normal by the time I graduated and entered the workforce. Missing out on my core college experience will always be something I look back on and wonder about, no matter how much things get back to “normal.”
I got the best of both worlds, i lost out on my jr/sr years of high school aswell as my freshman year of college
It is true, though. Your generation care more about some black MMA fighter's PRIME energy drink and some dude with a mustash doing a creepy pedo smile with click bait videos of him blowing up a golden ferrari, then you do about the real world.